Tag Archives: ohio

a spontaneous visit to our friend helen and her family was just what we needed this weekend. after deciding against a trip to massachusetts with the kids at an age they wont remember anything, we traveled 12 hours to stay the weekend in kentucky. the kids were AWESOME during both the trip there and the trip back. seriously, all fear of travel with these two is now gone. praise the lord!

leaving at around 4:30 am, we were up early enough to watch the sunrise. steve and i love to leave for roadtrips early in the am – the excitement of the dew morning air mixed with mcdonalds breakfast sandwiches is incomparable. the kids slept most of the way there since theyre usually late risers, and when they woke they were all smiles.

lunch was tiny burgers at a restaurant thats gift shop consisted of a james dean purse, bunny ears (in july, mind you), holographic dolphin posters, and “hillbilly cookbooks” — wuddup south. around seven we finally arrived in kentucky at what was supposed to be our first stop. musty, dusty, and yucky – it was so sad to see such a great piece of americana history going to junk. this has been long on our must-see list, so not all was lost. and clearly, oliver was enjoying his time finally out of the car!

the next morning, we got more tiny burgers (our area doesnt have whitecastle, so we took full advantage) and headed to the park with helen and her son gabe. ollie and gabe followed each other, poked each others bellies, and took each others sippy cups. yaknow, baby stuff. ; )

onward to downtown louisville where we crossed half of the walking bridge to indiana. the heat was brutal and the babies were a-sweatin, so we roamed the city for iced tea at heine bro coffee co, and found fair trade baskets for insanely inexpensive. we also got maribelle this quilt that youre going to be get tired of seeing because i’m obsessed.

the next day we spent just the four of us – steve and i with the kids. we ate at a farm to table restaurant and got their duck fat popcorn to go, heading back to the walking bridge to get some wiggles out. maribelle sunbathed while oliver ran around in circles making himself dizzy. the view one direction was indiana over the water, and the other was the skyline of lousiville. it was pretty much perfect.

bonfires, friends, and goodbyes. staying with helens family was the definition of hospitable. if they were a bed and breakfast, i’m pretty sure they’d make a killing. we had so much fun spending time with them and their friends, catching up, and sightseeing a bit. steve and helens husband adam shot off bows, talked hunting, and race cars, while helen and i talked motherhood, home stuff, and Gods love. this trip was so refreshing for all of us, and we’re dang excited to go back soon.

a few tips we aquired while traveling with two under two:

– snacks. seriously, all the snacks. on the daily, we try to not encourage snacking for oliver, but with a 12 hour trip whatever worked, we went with. pretty much at all times on the way there and the way back we kept a snack container filled with bunny grahms or puffs.

– water jugs. we brought along three, using the for cleaning things out (ex: sippies used for milk, and then rinsed for water) we also used the water for drinking to save on bottled water along the way.

– location location location. we organized the car where everything we could need was within reach to minimize unnecessary stops. diaper bag stocked was between the kids, as well as blankets and an extra burp cloth. snacks and tissues were on the floor of the backseat between the seats for easy grabbing. a small first aid kit in the glove compartment and phone chargers on hand. we stopped about four times each way, using those stops for nursing, bathroom, food and running time for oliver all at once.

– if youre kids use binkies (both of ours do) invest in a binky clip. we used ours from nomilude for both of the kids so they werent able to throw them somewhere out of reach, thus resulting in an extra stop. this was a big one for us because oliver just loves to toss his binky willy nilly, and fusses soon after.

– steal kisses. i think this is the most important tip of all. kiss that husband of yours. hold his hand. comment on how good hes taking those winding roads like a pro. its easy to get distracted by the stress of bringing the kids along for a lengthy trip, but its still your trip as well. enjoy it. xx